There are a number of waterfalls on the main island Efete in Vanuatu.
Some of these are very accessible as they are right next to the road such as this one.
Others are a bit more of a hike, but definitely worth it...such as these ones at Mele.
Unfortunately the access to the falls is not being very well managed. They have cut steps into the limestone and scrubbing the surface to avoid people slipping when walking. Unfortunately this also erodes and changes the waterfalls and I think they should put a walking track adjacent to the falls instead.
One day we hired a driver to take us around the island.
One of the places we stopped was the Blue Lagoon which is a small semi freshwater lagoon with large lime stone deposits making the water very blue to look at.
We also stopped at Turtle Bay which is supposed to be a turtle sanctuary...but for what it is (tiny) and the knowledge of your guide (none) very over prised.
But they did have some live coconut crabs.
Some baby turtles
And a couple of large turtles in a very small and dirty enclosure.
You would think that a country with access to some of the best seafood and freshest produce would have fantastic food.
Although the food was Ok, we didn't find it fantastic and generally very over prised.
There was plenty of restaurant in and around Port Vila and some of them serving specialties such as coconut crabs and flying foxes.
We tried the coconut crab...but it was overcooked and dry and had surprising little meat on it (no meat in the body itself).
So we stuck to more traditional seafood which most often was battered and deep fried.
And as usual Aiden got into the free kids menu desserts
This weekend we went up to Lake Macquarie with the family to stay for a couple of night at a resort. I didn't take a lot of photos because we either didn't do much or were too busy with the family.
I did however take this one photo one evening at Katherine Hill Bay.
Recently I had the chance to visit the shooting range at Malabar headland with a group of friends.
I used to do a lot of shooting in my younger days, so I was curious to see if I still had it in me.
On this day we were shooting on the 800 meter range (which is a very long distance) with 7.62 NATO rounds.
The distance means that you cannot see where you hit, so they have an electronic readout next to the shooter. The two circles in the middle are about 25cm in diameter at the far end.
Below is the group of shots from my round.
This photo gives a better idea of the distance we were shooting at (It was also a very windy day)
Apparently I shot the best round of the day including the regulars...
Conclusion is that, yes, still got it and I may pick it up as a regular activity some time in the future.
20. October 2019 19:10
by Rene Pallesen
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With Kim having a few weeks gap between jobs and badly needing a break she wanted to go somewhere relaxing and where the water and weather would be warm.
After a bit of research we settled on a week to the Phillipines to an island called Boracay.
This is a small island with the most beautiful beach we have seen anywhere outside of Bora Bora (interesting that both have the name 'Bora').
The boys (and adults) managed to get a mighty sunburn already on the first day.
The island also has the most amazing sunsets at the beach.
Also lots of activity on the beach in the evenings whereas during the day is is mostly empty.
We stayed in a large resort built around a golf course. It had seven swimming pools and we spend a lot of time here relaxing with the boys and sipping cocktails.
It was really nice in the evenings to sit in a bar listening to cruisy music. Most of the restaurants and bars would have live entertainers on in the evenings.
One day we went on a snorkeling trip around the island. The boys are well accustomed to snorkeling now and love it. Unfortunately I didn't bring an underwater housing on the trip, but I can say that the coral reef looks to be in a good shape although a lot of the larger schools of fish and large predatory fish seems to be scarce.
We also did a day trip to the main island where we went through one of the local caves.
The cave was full of little bats and also had other creatures that were attracted to the bats and insects such as a snake and spiders I've never seen before.
We even spotted a large hermit crab (size of a hand).
The other night we went for dinner at Marks place. He asked us if we could help him take some photos of the kids Axolotls...our response was 'Their WHAT??'.
Anyway, it turns out to be some sort of Mexican Salamander and he'd attempted to get some photos using his point and shoot camera, but wanted something better that he could print and hang on the kids wall.
Here are some of my efforts:
